Early Financial Conference Call For Zynga’s Q4’14

For some unknown reason Zynga decided to discuss the company’s Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2013 Financial Results yesterday as opposed to the February 6, 2014 date it originally announced [1].

For the 6th consecutive quarter Zynga has shown a decline in revenues. Zynga’s Q4’13 revenues are only 53% the amount Zynga generated in Q2’12.

Revenue Quarter Over Quarter Q2’12 $ 332   Q3’12 $ 317 - $ 25 Q4’12 $ 311 - $  6 Q1’13 $ 264 - $ 47 Q2’13 $ 231 - $ 33 Q3’13 $ 203 - $ 28 Q4’13 $ 176 - $ 27     - $ 166 $ In Millions Q1’14 Projected Revenue Q1’14 $ 155 – $165 - $ 11 to – $ 22

In Q1’14 Zynga projects another decline in revenue. Zynga is projecting revenue in Q1’14 to be between $11 – $22 less than the $176 million the company generated in Q4’13. FarmVille, FarmVille 2, and Zynga Poker continue to carry the company in revenue as those 3 games have generated more than half of Zynga’s total revenue.

Mafia Wars players and fans might want to start thanking FarmVille players for keeping the game we love and play free to play.

The decline in revenue is being over-shadowed by optimism that Zynga will have a positive year in 2014. During the conference call Zynga announced the acquisition of NaturalMotion. NaturalMotion is known for hit mobile games "CSR Racing" and "Clumsy Ninja". Don Mattrick further boosts the ‘high hopes’ of ZNGA investors by proclaiming that “Zynga will have no debt and $1.2 cash on the company’s balance sheet.” 

WSJ: Do you see more acquisitions ahead? Mattrick: After we purchase NaturalMotion, we’re going to have no debt and $1.2 billion on our balance sheet. We’ve got a really solid business and solid position.

The Wall Street Journal showed more optimism of Don Mattrick within an edited interview;

WSJ: What’s been going on since you were named CEO?

Don Mattrick: It feels to me like we’ve ended 2013 with material progress, with momentum that we’re carrying into 2014 and we’ve had some successes. Two examples of successes we call out in our earnings call later today, which is growth in our casino business, which is posting growth for the first time in 18 months, and the second highlight is “Words With Friends” doing its largest quarter in the history of that product, which is a five year product to date.

WSJ: How would you characterize the company’s strategy at this point?

Mattrick: Content is a core area where we just see great opportunities to build a business that is able to post multiple top 20 global hits. And when I look at our current portfolio, we would say we have been blessed to have three of those already in our poker/casino products, our “Words With Friends” products, and with “FarmVille.”

We’ve got new bets underway that we will be announcing that we’ll announce over the course of 2014, but you can anticipate that we’re still funding, still creating new products in addition to those products.

I’m a bit more skeptical. Unless Zynga can draw players back to it’s existing titles and/or have a few major hits this year I am not going to jump on the Band-Wagon just yet.

STAT WISE - 2

Stat Wise has returned to Mafia Wars. For a mere $15 you can choose the stats of 5 loots. That averages to $3 per loot. The 5 loots to choose the stats of are a Mercenary, a Pygmy Hippopotamus, a Winged Barrier, a Swiss Army Cannon, and a Runeminer.

You must choose the stats of all 5 loots (duplicate loots only available in more purchases). Zynga does permit the option to randomize your choices.

Once you have chosen the stats of all 5 loots you can proceed to making your purchase.

Don’s Favorite – 7 DAYS OF FREE SKILL POINTS

If you aren’t the Don’s Favorite it is because you do not have the Mafia Wars Facebook App grouped among you favorites list on your Facebook wall.

To add Mafia Wars to your favorites you need to hover your cursor just to the left of the Mafia Wars App and click to open a drop down box (as shown in the 2 images above). Click the Add to favorites link and the Mafia Wars App will now appear in your Facebook favorites list.

To participate in the Don’s Favorite Feature you now need to access Mafia Wars from the recently moved App link. If successful you should receive 10 free skill points for your first day of accessing Mafia Wars in this manner.

If it didn’t work for you then we recommend closing Mafia Wars and waiting a few minutes and try again.

Once collected your Don’s Favorite banners should now indicate that you have acquired your 10 free skill points (as shown in the following 2 images).

I knew I was the Don’s Favorite. Now everyone knows. The question is, are you?

This Is How Zynga Do’s It

Are you ready for a Fairy Tale Twist? Players of the game ‘Fairy Tale Twist’ tried to log in to their games on January 26 only to find that they couldn’t. That was because Zynga was making a few changes to that game. Zynga subsequently made the following announcement;

Introducing Puzzle Charms!

Mon Jan 27 09:26:28 EST 2014

Hello Fellow Twisters!

The twists and turns of the game we all loved can only get better and charm-ier!

We're glad to announce to everyone that Fairy Tale Twist is now called Puzzle Charms! Feed the Rabbits and pass  through Puzzles with never-ending Charms as you go along and finish all the fun-tastic levels!

Don't forget to bookmark the new game link: https://apps.facebook.com/puzzlecharms/

And now, let's all continue to play and be charmed, by Puzzle charms!

source: Puzzle Charms Player Suport 

With the name change from ‘Fairy Tale Twist’ to ‘Puzzle Charms’ the DAU of the game now surpasses that of Mafia Wars.  

Fairy Tale Twist Game Name Change Increases DAU

Mafia Wars’ DAU Still Hovering Below 200,00

Although Mafia Wars may appear to have a little momentum in improving it’s Daily Users over the course of the past 2 weeks the game is far from where it once was. The next 2 graphics show how much Daily activity Mafia Wars has lost within the last year and 2 years (respectively).

DAU Change in last year:  -31%

Change in DAU between 2012 Q2 and 2014 Q1: -52%

We have expressed time and again how we believe Zynga is its own worst enemy with its business model. Others are now expressing similar thoughts. The following is a quote from Robert Weinstein who wrote an article on thestreet.com that questioned Zynga’s Customer Service.

“According to Zynga's filings, few users break out the credit card to spend real money. OK, that's not a surprise, but maybe the exact model it's using isn't the correct one.”

The problem with Zynga (within nearly ALL it's games) is that they have forgotten that their games are ‘supposed’ to be ‘freemium’ games. Mafia Wars is among several of Zynga’s games that have become money grubbing games that are nearly impossible to play (or to at least have the ability to complete many of the ‘in-game’ tasks and features) without the need of spending lots of cash.

Zynga made its billions 4 (+/-) years ago when its games were playable by everyone. Players used to spend $5 or $10 on a game card or other in-game purchase when they didn’t feel over-pressured by Zynga to do so. This is back when the in-game purchases either sped you through something or gave you a small perk over others (albeit only temporary).

The over-priced and high-pressure tactics of Microsoft WILL NOT work in a ‘Freemium’ atmosphere! Period. Those tactics will only chase players away from your services Zynga! Facebook is not like the X-Box.

Coming Soon To A Mafia-Wars Game Near You

D’ya wanna have some fun.

Let’s say that Mafia Wars made the following announcement of changes to Mafia Wars;

Coming soon to a Mafia-Wars game near you....... In the coming weeks there will be some changes made to the attack system. The most visible change will be the implementation of ammunition for guns. If you run out of ammunition, you will switch to a backup melee weapon, and NOT another gun. This means if you do not maintain your ammo stockpiles, you could be left bringing a knife (or other melee weapon) to a gun fight. This will potentially enable weaker players to beat stronger players that run out of ammo.

In the next couple of days you will see ammo appearing in the shops available for purchase. You will also find that the inventory page now indicates the type of ammo a given weapon uses. It is your responsibility to buy the proper ammo for your weapons, and there are going to be some similar ammo names. Don't buy .50 Caliber BMG ammo thinking it will work in your Desert Eagle, it won't work.

Another change that you will see is when mugging another player, you will now gain certain items on top of money. You will not be able to steal Support Packs, but other items may be available for theft. The exact items that will be available are still yet to be determined. Items preceded by an asterisk (*) in the inventory can be stolen when you are mugged, so you will have an idea of what you may lose if you get mugged.

Finally, when this change goes live, everyone will be credited with a certain amount of ammo for each type of gun in their inventory, so any inactive/infrequent players aren't at a disadvantage right away. But then again, if a player is inactive or does not come on very much, chances are they aren't going to be reading this before the change goes live, so we're not sure why we are announcing this.

If there are any questions, please direct them to a member of staff. Stay tuned for more updates. Same Bat time, same Bat channel. ~MW Staff

I would think that the announcement above, if true, would make Mafia Wars more like Mafia Wars 2.

 

What do you think? Would you like these changes to Mafia Wars?

Iceboard Top 25 – Must Be A Corliss Thing

On The Official Mafia Wars Blog Zynga has posted the Top 25 finishers in the Global Iceboard Clash (reprinted below);

Hi Mobsters,

Many of you suggested we mention the top 25 ranking players in the Global Iceboard going forward. We thought it was a great idea!

So on popular demand, here's the list of the top 25 players in the Global Leaderboard!

Sl. No.	Name	No. of Ices
1	Fiona Clark	684481
2	Aby Corliss	620763
3	Elina Khetagurova	542304
4	Asha MW Corliss	501825
5	Yuki Day	479780
6	Stewart Bridgman	468615
7	George War	452825
8	Zilli Max	451342
9	Kevin Portman	450016
10	Xena Harley	444307
11	Alice MW Corliss	441495
12	Mervyn Rutherford	432529
13	Kizza Kizzic	420551
14	Amber Corliss	418804
15	Zander Corliss	418683
16	Aaron Porritt	418606
17	Jan de Souter	405109
18	Steve A Smith Sr.	402804
19	Robert Reuser	382476
20	Fred Palmer	377481
21	Joseph Corliss	372526
22	Karen Malone	371770
23	Tom Porritt	370217
24	Ian Wilson	367998
25	Abuzuttin Muttalip	362492

Please note that ONLY the top three ranks globally and the top three ranks in your Mafia will receive the following prizes.

These rewards are applicable for the Iceboard season that ended on Jan 22, 2014. All winners need to log in to the game and redeem their reward by on Jan 26, 2014.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Keep playing Mafia Wars!

-The Mafia Wars Team

As we highlighted in the Top 25 list you will notice 6 players with the last name ‘Corliss’. That equates to 24% of the Top 25. With so many players with the same last name who finished among the top 25 it doesn’t bode well in considering these events legitimate. One must question as to whether all 6 of these Corliss’s are different players or are they all the same player?

Obviously scripts were used by ALL those who finished in the Top 25. These types of events have succeeded at nothing more than promoting the use of scripts and cheating. The players who do finish at the top of these types of events are rewarded for their cheating efforts and do NOT even deserve bragging rights.

Many players don’t even bother trying in these types of events because we know we can’t compete and Zynga continues to widen the gap in the playing field by rewarding these players more and more.

The DAU has not seen 200,000 since November 15, 2013. That’s more than 2 months ago. Need we ask why? These types of events and the use of scripts along with Zynga’s relentless pushes for purchases of RP are culminating the demise of this once reward winning game. Zynga needs to give ALL players a reason to continue playing Mafia Wars. They might find that if they did Zynga might actually generate a positive in revenue and NOT another decline. JMO.

Zynga to Discuss Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2013 Results on February 6, 2014

 

 

January 21, 2014

Zynga to Discuss Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2013 Results on February 6, 2014 Via Webcast

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 21, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zynga Inc. (Nasdaq:ZNGA), a leading social game developer, will hold a conference call to discuss financial results for its fourth quarter and full year 2013 on Thursday, February 6, 2014, at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time (5:00 p.m. Eastern Time), following the release of its financial results after the close of market.

The live webcast of Zynga's earnings conference call can be accessed at investor.zynga.com. Following the call, a replay of the webcast will be available through the website. 

Forward-Looking Statements

The conference call and webcast will contain forward-looking statements relating to, among other things, our financial expectations and business prospects, our future operational and strategic plans, upcoming games, features and technologies, and the success of our games and network generally. Our actual results could differ materially from those predicted or implied, and reported results should not be considered as an indication of our future performance. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, our relationship with Facebook or changes in the Facebook platform or to our agreements with Facebook, attrition and declines in our existing games, our ability to launch new games in a timely manner and monetize these games effectively on the web and on mobile, our ability to control and reduce expenses, our exposure to illegitimate credit card activity and other security risks, our ability to anticipate and address technical challenges that may arise, competition, the changing interests of players, intellectual property disputes or other litigation, asset impairment charges, our ability to retain key employees, acquisitions by us and changes in corporate strategy or management.

Source: Zynga Inc.

ZNGA  has been on a very slow incline over the course of the past year. Investors have been hopeful that Don Mattrick would revive ZNGA back to, at least, the levels of ZNGA’s IPO. Since Q2‘12  Zynga’s revenues have been on a steady decline.

Zynga no longer boasts a top 10 Facebook App.

The direction of the company is clearly uncertain. One can only speculate what will be announced regarding Zynga’s financials on Feb 6, 2014. We fear more of the same. 

 

 

When the mornin' comes You'll know by my shoes I've been out walking If I don't return You'll know I've found something to believe in, to believe in Waiting for the sun My heart will surely break if it starts raining It's the oasis I seek 'Cause the sand of the desert makes me thirsty, makes me thirsty Down, down we all go down 'Round, 'round we all go 'round Down, down we all go down We all go down-down-down-down If I learn to fly You know I'll go places never been before If I reach a star You know I will dwell on it forever, forever There are mysteries My children have rhymes with hidden meanings If I learn the truth I'm sure that the end will leave me crying, leave me crying

My Truth - Your Truth - And The Real Truth

 

 

Don’t look so confused Pan. Stay in control. Just realize that we are far from Neverland and the game we all play and blog about is called Mafia Wars after all. If you want to play a game that is filled with fairies maybe you should try CastleVille.

Mafia Spirit has taken a lot of criticism from the fairies in the game that have spread their dust (Bullshit and Lies) all around Facebook and elsewhere. It must be some really good dust too since they have many more followers than we do and they like to brag about that fact and try to humiliate us with it. But, they don’t know who I am nor why I do what I do (Although they have tried to find out).

There is a reason we just hit 96,000 fans and it’s because of an engaged group of players who all help each other learn the game. My only purpose is to put all that stuff together in one place. I don’t solely take credit for any of this because it’s always a group effort. If I did this all on my own or spent my time worrying about what others post then we would still be waiting after all these years to get out of the triple digit bracket.

We could have a larger following if we tried harder and had our noses in every Facebook group and Skype room or your business like others do. We could inflate our Facebook likes if we wanted to create 1,000’s of mini accounts or bought them. We could even add Admins to our pages to spread our good word and to paint illusions of grandeur. We could even pay for advertising if we wanted to. But we do none of those things.

We’ve done none of those things because we aren’t trying to make money from what we do, for one thing. Also, we have no overwhelming desire to be number 1 in a dying game like others do. We are simply trying to provide another perspective of the game. We do hope you like what we do and we appreciate those of you who have been brave enough to click the ‘like’ buttons on Facebook and/or shared our posts. We also appreciate those of you who follow us incognito (which there are many more of you than others may realize).

Our fanbase, and other blogs too, could possibly be higher IF we weren’t being falsely accused of many things and weren’t being reported and threatened.

Nit picking about who posted what first is for those who don’t have anything else to write about.

Hmm, maybe that’s because you made it an issue since you’ve accused too many others of copying, or stealing, from you? Ever think about that one? Probably NOT!

Now you contradict yourself (again) by stating;

Those who provide information to the Mafia Wars community all have limited content to write about and have their own ways of obtaining information. Many things are posted on various groups and fan pages before I even get online and vice versa. We all can’t be online 24/7 and I do my best to post information as soon as I can. Just because someone may have posted it before me doesn’t mean I got that information from them or vice versa. Game and server images are available to anyone and they are owned by Zynga and not the 1st person who posted them. The only time I ever get upset over seeing the same images I’ve posted elsewhere is when they are taken directly from our site. Those who accuse me of ‘stealing’ images that are in the Zynga servers or right in our game should look at themselves in the mirror and say the same whenever one is posted here first. I wouldn’t have time to run this site if I felt compelled to keep track of how many times that happens and spend my time pointing it out.

But, it’s ok for you to accuse others of stealing or copying from you?

My response to your hypocrisy is;

YOU ARE SO UNRESPECFUL!!

Got Beads? Carnival (Mardi Gras) Theme Marketplace Sale Coming Soon

You’ve been patiently waiting for a new Marketplace Sales Event, I know. Lemme tell you that you won’t be waiting much longer because a new Marketplace Sale is coming soon. The theme is clearly Carnival related as the name of the featured loot that you can earn by making the required number of purchases is Carnival Maestro.

The 4 Limited Edition loots also go along with the theme.

 

Mardi Gras Dates

When you're ready for the big experience, you'll need to know when it will be! You'll find that the big day can fall on any Tuesday between February 3 and March 9. Carnival celebration starts on January 6, the Twelfth Night (feast of Epiphany), and picks up speed until midnight on Mardi Gras, the day before Ash Wednesday.

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How do you know which Tuesday it will be?

Ash Wednesday is always 46 days before Easter, and Fat Tuesday is always the day before Ash Wednesday. Easter can fall on any Sunday from March 23 to April 25, with the exact date to coincide with the first Sunday after the full moon following a spring equinox! There you have it! Voila! If you're still confused, get out that calendar with the printed holidays on it--it's the day before Ash Wednesday!

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Rio Carnival 2014 dates: February 28th until March 4th

Although one might think that Mardi Gras celebrations won’t start until February or March some have already started. Like

Phunny Phorty Phellows
“Honi soit qui mal y pense”
Date: January 6, 2014
Time: 7:00 p.m. Sharp
Location: St. Charles Ave. Streetcar Line
The Phunny Phorty Phellows Herald
the Arrival of Mardi Gras!

In 1982 the Phunny Phorty Phellows became the official heralds of Mardi Gras with their Twelfth Night ride in a traditional New Orleans streetcar announcing that, at last, the pre-Lenten season of “phun and phrivolity” had arrived. source; mardigrasparadeschedule.com

Let the festivities begin. And ladies, here are your beads;

Brazilian Liaison Operation Loots

Who plays in Brazil?

Yesterday Mafia Spirit showed you the next Limited Time Operation that will be called Brazilian Liaison. [1] Within an hour after our post a competing blogger promptly made a similar post implying that they found the images along with the following comment; “At this time none of the loot items have been added to the inventory but they should be soon if this is in fact a newly added image.” The truth is that they would NOT have known about this Brazilian Operation if WE hadn’t posted about it first. We do the work and find the images and they try to steal the credit, like they have accused others of doing so many times. If they want respect from me then they MUST EARN IT! – I must say, we are humbled that they like what we do here at Mafia Spirit and that they follow us. Maybe you should tell your friends about us so you don’t get second hand news.

The loots have now been added to the in-game inventory. All the Loots for the ‘Brazilian Liaison’ Operations are shown below (as you will likely see within the game once the operations become active);

The Bronze, Silver, and Gold level reward will be a loot called ‘Pre-Caution.’